10.12.2015
Another tree trimming fatality
A man died on Tuesday when he fell from the bucket truck he was using on a job on Long Island, New York.
The man said Stephan Wright, 53, was working for A1 Tree and Shrub Service, trimming trees along a street in Syosset, near Hempstead, New York. The man was somehow knocked out of the platform and as he was not wearing a harness fell around nine metres to the road below.
He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Vertikal Comment
This is so sad, just before Christmas and so avoidable, we do not know the full details of the incident, our report is based purely on the police report. However the bulletin was quite clear that the deceased was not wearing any safety equipment and certainly no harness.
It is encouraging that police reports involving falls from aerial lifts, particularly boom lifts, increasingly mention whether those who fell were wearing a harness or not. If the police are now tuning into it why has the message not yet reached so many tree care professionals?
Sherm
In his outstanding book Checklist Manifesto the author Dr. Atul Gawande clearly points out that work related mistakes are caused by ignorance and ineptitude. People who work at height cannot afford to ignore safety equipment and the rules of gravity. This year the frequency of falls from height has been a weekly occurrence especially in tree work and many have been fatal. I am preaching safety and I know the audience is not deaf. I preach this for my team nd we work safely. It does not cost us any more to be safe...AAMOF it costs us less because we can work the next day just as ably.